Could an armed citizenry stop a terrorist AK-47 attack?

I’m not sure we’ll ever find out.
I would have been very interested if Mayor Richard M. “No Guns” Daley had a security meeting with Chief of Police Jody Weis after the Mumbai attacks last week. “How can we protect the people of Chicago from such an attack?” One or two years ago, I read a magazine article that suggested several inexpensive soft-target attacks in the U.S. One was launching a heat-seeking missile from a Southern California beach at a passenger aircraft on its takeoff path. Another was the kidnap and murder of a congressman. Two more were detonating bombs aboard approaching ships near New York Harbor and the Houston refineries. The fifth was an automatic-weapon attack by multiple terrorists at a crowded shopping mall in December, with a bomb timed to detonate at the loading dock right about the time the SWAT team would show up.
It’s the last one that most concerns me. Unlike another terrorism-prone country, we don’t have metal detectors at shopping-mall entrances. (They would come after an attack.) How to stop an attack once it is in progress? It only takes a few minutes—often less time than emergency response takes to show up—to inflict high numbers of casualties. A terrorist group would be far less likely to plan an attack on civilians whom they know are likely to be armed, and vice versa. That increases the probability of an attack within the City of Chicago. In Texas, where law-abiding citizens can legally pack heat, I imagine terrorists would be concerned about being shot and take their murderous plans elsewhere.
I never thought I’d say anything complimentary about Texas.

Great parking spot just asking for trouble

I found a great parking space in Lincoln Park last night, just a block from Mad River, my destination. After depositing my last two quarters, I realized the meter didn’t acknowledge my four bits. So I dutifully called “311” (non-emergency) to report the broken meter. The nice lady took down the location and meter number, and then warned me that I would get a ticket anyway, and that reporting the problem proved that I knew the meter was broken, so I shouldn’t be parking there. (So parking there should be permitted IMHO.) I was out of quarters! Happily, the guy in front of me left right after my phone call ended, and his meter had 42 minutes left. That kept me safe until 8:54, and I prayed the PEA and police wouldn’t bother for the final six minutes. No ticket. Phew.

Mumbai tragedy message

I think the Jewish message of positive actions and good deeds in honor of the victims is a powerful one. This video emphasizes that message without being preachy.

Holtzberg funeral

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1091318/Jewish-mother-killed-Mumbai-attacks-pregnant--son-2-beaten-militants.html

Apologies if that link doesn't work. I'm sure you can search at the Daily Mail's website for the article.

I'm still stunned from the carnage the terrorists inflicted on Mumbai and the city's innocent victims Wednesday night through Friday. The pictures (from the above article) of the Holtzberg's funeral in Israel are heart-wrenching. I'm truly at a loss for words. If the Holtzbergs were like any of the Chabad shluchim (emissaries) I've met, then they were truly nice, gentle, loving people who went out of their way to make anyone who met them feel right at home. Running Chabad Mumbai may have been a daunting task, but I doubt the Holtzbergs ever considered being anywhere else despite their Western childhoods.

Mrs. Holtzberg was pregnant; Moshe, age two, probably witnessed his parents' murders; Moshe was most likely beaten; his parents may have been tortured. The terrorists were not just cold-blooded killers. They were sadists fueled by unadulterated hatred who inadvertently spared Moshe only because they didn't realize he survived. They certainly didn't hold to the Mob's "No women/no kids" code. The attacks had nothing to do with U.S. foreign policy, Deepak Chopra. And no, Stupid Woman on TV, the terrorists didn't much care we elected Barack Obama. This was another Muslim terrorist attack on Jews and Westerners, and yes, it matters the terrorists were Muslim. Most Muslims are peace-loving people who just want to live their lives like everyone else. But almost all terrorists are Muslim, and almost all terrorist attacks are carried out by Muslims. The terrorists targeted the Chabad House because it is a Jewish center and house of worship--a symbol of Judaism and the West in mostly Hindu Mumbai. There is no other reason.

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Valkyrie coming soon

This is shaping up to be an excellent WWII film.

Cincinnati visit

I initially planned on adding my narrative about my weekend visit to Cincinnati to my blog but ultimately decided it was family stuff that doesn’t belong in a public or semi-public forum. Here’s the short version: the National Freedom Museum is closed on days the Bengals play at home; and the Taft Museum is fantastic. And visiting family out of town is a great way to spend a holiday weekend.

At the risk of offending government employees, I’m going to revisit my taxation point now that I’ve visited Cincinnati. Here, there’s a budget crisis in Chicago, in Cook County, and in Springfield every time one of those government entities needs to pass its budget. There’s always a deficit and always controversy about how to bridge that gap—what services to cut, which taxes to raise and by how much. Maybe that happens in Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, and in Columbus. But one senses when visiting Cincinnati that the intense pressure to suck revenue from residents and visitors just isn’t the same. The sales tax rate in Cincinnati and surrounding Hamilton County is the same: just 6.5%. My family was astounded when I told them the tax rate here is 10% in Cook County, 10.25% in Chicago, plus an extra 1% for downtown restaurants. Yes, there is a city income tax surcharge in Cincinnati. But it wouldn’t make up a four-point sales tax difference. I had heard Cincinnati speed limits were strictly enforced, but I never saw cops or meter maids. I found a free, legal street parking spot before kickoff that was reasonable walking distance from the Bengals’ stadium—unthinkable for the Bears and the Chicago Park District.

One of my cousins—not the cousins I visited—belongs to a group called “You Know You’re From Cincinnati if….” The last point says it’s a great place to live. It doesn’t rank with Chicago in population; not only is it not Top 5, it’s not even Top 50 anymore. (63rd and falling.) It’s probably not considered a world-class city and is not a must-see for international tourists. Its airport’s airfares are terribly expensive because it’s controlled by one airline. The nearest NHL team is in Columbus. The nearest NBA team is in Indianapolis—both cities about 115 mi. away. But crime isn’t a major problem that sends the mayor into temper tantrums. It’s okay to pack heat. Its residents tend to be politically conservative (G-d forbid, I know). Traffic isn’t such a problem except for the bridges to and from Kentucky at certain times of day. Sure, bright lights/big city has a strong appeal. So does a city of Cincinnati’s size.